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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™

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Student Publications

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Effect Of Power Shifts On War, Jeffrey D. Torrieri Oct 2023

The Effect Of Power Shifts On War, Jeffrey D. Torrieri

Student Publications

Instances where an actor is experiencing a significant gain in power or is watching the power they once had slowly slip away seem like breeding grounds for conflict. This gives rise to the question: What effect does the rapid rise or decline of a significant actor’s power in the international system have on the likelihood that a system-changing war will occur? The basis of my answer to this question lies in both the power transition theory and the theory of hegemonic war. By critically analyzing the two aforementioned theories, addressing scholarly critiques of these theories, and making predictions about a …

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Navigating Car Attitudes: An Analysis Of Transportation Habits, Environmental Views, And Demographics, Caroline J. Jordan, Sydney E. Lucero, Anna L. Imrie Oct 2023

Navigating Car Attitudes: An Analysis Of Transportation Habits, Environmental Views, And Demographics, Caroline J. Jordan, Sydney E. Lucero, Anna L. Imrie

Student Publications

Transportation plays a crucial part in the daily lives of people and society worldwide. Our study examined the transportation habits and environmental attitudes of both Gettysburg College students and individuals across the United States. We conducted a comparative analysis using a sample from students on campus and a national sample collected from the crowdsourcing platform, Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Additionally, we compared our findings with two similar studies completed by an Environmental Studies capstone nine years ago. We calculated each respondent's environmental score to gauge environmental attitudes, derived explicitly from their answers to five of the 24 survey questions. Next, we …

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Economic Method: The Science In Trade, Arthur I. Keegan Oct 2023

Economic Method: The Science In Trade, Arthur I. Keegan

Student Publications

In observing the universe, philosophers have offered their thought processes for understanding the perceivable reality, which we know as science. These thought processes are constructed into scientific methods to conquer the unknown. Economics existing through human interaction in society holds its own characteristics that scholars have sought out to outline the nature of trade. Within this book, the various approaches of science will be presented and tests across various case studies in Economics to test validity of arguments and connections between thought processes across different disciplines. This work is guided by Steven Gimbel and his work Exploring the Scientific Method …

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The Personality And Psychology Of Chen Zi-Ang, A Fiery, Noble Warrior And Martyr (陳子昂烈士之人格心理), Xiao-Yu Chen Apr 2023

The Personality And Psychology Of Chen Zi-Ang, A Fiery, Noble Warrior And Martyr (陳子昂烈士之人格心理), Xiao-Yu Chen

Student Publications

From the perspective of psychology, personality refers to the long-term, significant pattern in which a person perceives themselves while responding to others and the world. In the vast majority of situations, a person’s experiences at and before age twenty-five, in addition to their reactions to these situations, have a significant impact over their personality and psychology. In the vast majority of cases, the significant sources of these experiences are the substantial impacts of familial circumstances and early professional interactions, in addition to their broader social-historical worlds. Chen Zi-Ang the martyr was in the human realm for forty or forty-one years …

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Sports Data Science Job Requirements, Cam E. Morse Apr 2023

Sports Data Science Job Requirements, Cam E. Morse

Student Publications

Data science is an extremely fast growing field in which job opportunities are opening in every industry related to data science. Within the data science field is the sports data science industry which has it's own requirements and specificities that may not be present in other industries. In this paper, research is done using multiple job posting websites such as LinkedIn, Indeed, Sportstek jobs, and TeamworkOnline to explore the job descriptions of many different sports data science jobs. These job descriptions are then examined using Python coding to find the frequencies of specific data science skills in the various job …

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"Life Unworthy Of Life" Aktion T4: The First Nazi Genocide, Alexander M. Remington Apr 2023

"Life Unworthy Of Life" Aktion T4: The First Nazi Genocide, Alexander M. Remington

Student Publications

Though usually viewed as a prelude to the Holocaust, the T4 euthanasia program was a distinct genocide carried out by the Third Reich’s doctors. Allowing themselves to be corrupted by eugenics and Nazi policy, the perpetrators of the Nazi euthanasia killings transformed themselves from healers to murderers. Despite public resistance led by Bishop Clemens von Galen which resulted in the cancellation of the T4 program, Nazi doctors took it upon themselves to continue euthanizing patients until the end of the war, emphasizing the legitimacy that euthanasia had acquired. The history of the T4 program, its perpetrators, and resisters is critical …

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Gendered Stem Beliefs And Major Choice, Nicole T. Cesanek, Benjamin J. Durham Apr 2023

Gendered Stem Beliefs And Major Choice, Nicole T. Cesanek, Benjamin J. Durham

Student Publications

Beliefs and expectations about who can and should pursue STEM careers contribute to a student’s sense of STEM identity and may help to explain the gender gap in pursuing STEM in higher education. The formation of these beliefs is a long and complex process, starting very early on in an individual’s life. We analyze how gendered STEM beliefs of students, parents, and teachers in ninth grade affect a female student’s probability of majoring in STEM in college. We add to an analysis done by Sansone (2019) in an appendix of his paper by using actual majors instead of intended majors. …

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Juicemania: Interpreting Jay Kordich’S Health Empire As Religion, Deirdre M. Sullivan Apr 2023

Juicemania: Interpreting Jay Kordich’S Health Empire As Religion, Deirdre M. Sullivan

Student Publications

John “Jay” Kordich, an American “health reformer,” salesman, author, and celebrity, is best known for his recipe books on diet and health and his series of television infomercials. With his charismatic presentations and playful sense of humor, he captivated audiences with his demonstrations of various models of juicers and the delicious taste of his fresh juices. Kordich is part of a long line of health reformers, fasters, and practitioners of alternative medicine that has persisted in American culture for over 200 years. These advocates of alternative medicine have not only met a need for medical treatment, but also for religion …

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More Care And Less Pay: The Phenomenon Of Low Wages Among Care Occupations, Allison B. Dayton Apr 2023

More Care And Less Pay: The Phenomenon Of Low Wages Among Care Occupations, Allison B. Dayton

Student Publications

This research examines the phenomenon of care occupations paying less than other occupations with similar levels of human capital investment. The paper evaluates the high concentration of women, especially Black women, the resulting wage penalties, social closure theory, temporal flexibility, and positive externalities as possible explanations for this problem. Potential solutions like raising the minimum wage and subsidizing education for care workers are also addressed.

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Regime Type, Censorship, And Trust In Government With A Special Look At China, Avery K. O'Neill Apr 2023

Regime Type, Censorship, And Trust In Government With A Special Look At China, Avery K. O'Neill

Student Publications

This research stems from a fascination with the unique social media censorship efforts in China. In order to determine if such heavy social media restrictions are unique to China this study uses data from the World Values Survey to investigate the relationship between regime type and social media censorship. The paper then examines the relationship between government censorship effort and citizens’ trust in government. Ultimately, I find that while regime type is a predictor of censorship, censorship does not have a substantial effect on citizens’ confidence in government overall. However, the data does seem to suggest that censorship may be …

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The Future Of Banking: Consumer Protection And Contagion Risks Of Cryptocurrency, Anthony Choi Apr 2023

The Future Of Banking: Consumer Protection And Contagion Risks Of Cryptocurrency, Anthony Choi

Student Publications

The emergence of digital assets in the financial services industry in the 21st century raised concerns pertaining to consumer protection, regulatory oversight, and the safety and soundness of the United States financial system. In the efforts to foster digital assets in financial markets, lawmakers at both state and federal governments have begun spearheading regulatory initiatives aimed at protecting investors and consumers. This paper considers historical and current issues surrounding cryptocurrency, as well as existing policy and regulatory responses at the federal level. Among a wide array of policy issues regarding digital assets, this paper examines the consumer protection and contagion …

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The Effects Of Climate Change In Guam, Olga M. Zyzanska, Brooke R. Ashfield, Kate E. Eulberg Apr 2023

The Effects Of Climate Change In Guam, Olga M. Zyzanska, Brooke R. Ashfield, Kate E. Eulberg

Student Publications

The purpose of this project is to dive into the harm that climate change has on Guam and its population. The objectives of our project are centered on highlighting the creative resistance of the CHamoru Indigenous community on Guam to established structures of colonialism and militarization during increasing climate crises. This project explores questions such as: How is Guam being impacted by climate change? Is the impact severe and/or immediate? How is the Indigenous community in Guam affected? How does US policy help or harm the island and its Indigenous population? What is being done to protect the island and …

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Carbon Sequestration Capacities Of Different Land Cover Types And Climate Change, Nicole L. Melnick, Annabel Gorman, Adam F. Warren Apr 2023

Carbon Sequestration Capacities Of Different Land Cover Types And Climate Change, Nicole L. Melnick, Annabel Gorman, Adam F. Warren

Student Publications

Human-caused climate change creates a positive feedback loop that emits more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere instead of being sequestered in the Earth or its oceans. A major contributor to this feedback loop is deforestation in order to use land for agriculture and livestock. This study aims to investigate differences in carbon sequestration capabilities of forests, pastures, and cropland through soil and tree sampling in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The main hypothesis of this study is that forested land will be the most effective at carbon sequestration. The loss on ignition method (LOI) was used to determine the percent organic material in …

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Battling History: A Discussion Of How Controlling Images And The Matrix Of Domination Causes Recreations Of Oppression Affecting Black Female Athletes In Gymnastics Today, Nicole T. Cesanek Apr 2023

Battling History: A Discussion Of How Controlling Images And The Matrix Of Domination Causes Recreations Of Oppression Affecting Black Female Athletes In Gymnastics Today, Nicole T. Cesanek

Student Publications

The history of the slave era led to the creation of several different tropes of African American women used throughout history including the jezebel and the strong Black woman. Coupled with the matrix of domination, researchers are able to understand how this history has led to recreations of oppression among Black female athletes. This has been particularly evident among the sport of gymnastics in which several athletes have experienced severe oppression, which in many cases, has prevented them from speaking up about other serious concerns within their sport such as sexual assault and mental health. The creation of tropes for …

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Cub Plastic Shipping Bag Recycling Program, Samuel M. Arkin, Ethan J. Bruemmer Apr 2023

Cub Plastic Shipping Bag Recycling Program, Samuel M. Arkin, Ethan J. Bruemmer

Student Publications

We implemented a plastic shipping bag recycling program at Gettysburg College. Recycling bags contribute towards contamination within the college's single-stream recycling or end up directly in the landfill via traditional trash collection. The production of plastic bags relies on the continued production of fossil fuel extraction. Plastic bag recycling can decrease fossil fuel extraction and waste entering landfills. To curb Gettysburg College’s generation of waste, we placed four bins in various locations throughout the Center Union Building (CUB) in order to collect plastic shipping bags over a 4.5-week period. We made three hypotheses: that our bins would collect shipping bags …

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Media Exploitation Of Black Athletes: Challenges, Consequences, And Empowerment, Spencer K. Myler Apr 2023

Media Exploitation Of Black Athletes: Challenges, Consequences, And Empowerment, Spencer K. Myler

Student Publications

This paper examines the issue of media exploitation of Black athletes and its detrimental impact on their lives, careers, and public perception. It explores the historical context, underlying factors, and consequences of this exploitation, while also providing empowerment strategies and potential solutions. Through an analysis of media representation, athlete experiences, stereotyping, endorsement deals, and social media influence, this paper aims to raise awareness about the issues impacting Black athletes. Media exploitation of Black athletes is a problem that needs immediate attention, and this paper provides a detailed look into the athlete experience to better understand the issues at hand, in …

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The Global North And Global South In Political Dilemma: Postmaterialist Effects Of Age On Government Trust, Anthony Choi Apr 2023

The Global North And Global South In Political Dilemma: Postmaterialist Effects Of Age On Government Trust, Anthony Choi

Student Publications

The ever-changing nature of the population in different age cohorts creates a variance in issue priorities between and among younger and older generations. This relationship can be explained by the theory of postmaterialism, which insists that there is a rising attachment among young people to postmaterialist values and goals, such as self-expression, especially within the society of younger age cohorts. As younger generations have become more prevalent in demanding the United States government and other nations in the Global North to engage in lawmaking that nourishes their postmaterialist values and needs, I attempt to examine the relationship between one’s age …

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Framing Of Latinx Vote Choice And Voter Registration, Laurel E. Bennett Oct 2022

Framing Of Latinx Vote Choice And Voter Registration, Laurel E. Bennett

Student Publications

This work investigates media framing done by CNN between the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. Although Latinx voters remain underrepresented and under researched, they have the ability to highly influence elections. Specifically, CNN uses the sleeping giant frame, the need for Latinx voter registration as a frame, and the importance of Latinx voter mobilization as a frame in the 2020 presidential election more prominently than in the 2016 presidential election upon consideration of Latinx vote choice and voter turnout.

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Political Trust: Nature Or Nurture, Kahlan R. Canty Oct 2022

Political Trust: Nature Or Nurture, Kahlan R. Canty

Student Publications

This paper looked into the relationship between political trust, demographics (race and gender), and presidential election votes for 2012 and 2016. The purpose of this research was to see the baseline feelings of political trust in different demographics, as well as how those feelings of political trust changed depending on if they voted for in the winning candidate in the presidential election. Preliminary research has already been conducted on both of these topics; however, in this paper I sought to examine if an individual's race or gender affected the extent of a person's loss or gain in political trust when …

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Unlocking Rosenberger's Research, Victoria N. Ramsay Oct 2022

Unlocking Rosenberger's Research, Victoria N. Ramsay

Student Publications

Homer Rosenberger's unprocessed collection lies in Musselman Library's Special Collections--a multitude of boxes filled with Pennsylvania research and memorabilia. By examining the first box in the collection, it becomes clear that Rosenberger was more than just an avid researcher, but also a man with his own history and reasons for collecting these documents in the first place.

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Struggles And Successes In Accessing Art, Theodore J. Szpakowski Oct 2022

Struggles And Successes In Accessing Art, Theodore J. Szpakowski

Student Publications

According to the 2021 American Community Survey, 13% of Americans self-reported being disabled. That is over 42 million people. Many of have the same interest in attending art museums and galleries as non-disabled Americans, but face additional barriers. It is critical for art museums and galleries to recognize these barriers and take steps to reduce them. Several large art museums have begun innovative programs that can provide an example of what an art space with the time, staffing, and resources can achieve. Although accessibility requires a plethora of considerations to be done properly, museums and galleries have shown incredible progress …

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Existentialism And Social Meaning: The Development Of A Social Being, John R. Swartz Oct 2022

Existentialism And Social Meaning: The Development Of A Social Being, John R. Swartz

Student Publications

Individuals are defined by their beliefs. A tension exists in the development of personhood between the concepts of individually chosen existential meaning, and societally imposed social meaning. The essay explores these concepts and how an individuals is to navigate a world of meaning. Ultimately, the creation of art is examined as a means of creating new meaning individually and societally.

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How Do You Vote? Breaking Down Party Identification By Racial Resentment, Stellarose B. Emery Oct 2022

How Do You Vote? Breaking Down Party Identification By Racial Resentment, Stellarose B. Emery

Student Publications

Racial resentment has long existed in the United States, with the idea that Black people receive unfair advantages by exploiting their race thus negatively affecting White people. In a time in which politics is drastically polarized, a focus is put onto an individual's political identity. The purpose of this research is to determine under what conditions does race influence vote choice by examining how racial bias influences political affiliation. Using data from the 2012 and 2016 National Election Study, the results revealed that ideological thoughts do have an impact on a person’s political party identity as individuals with a higher …

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The Effects Of Social Globalization On Access To Abortion, Dallas M. Hardee Oct 2022

The Effects Of Social Globalization On Access To Abortion, Dallas M. Hardee

Student Publications

What effect does social globalization have on access to legal abortion? I contend that social globalization positively influences access to legal abortion. This is because mechanisms of social globalization such as gender parity, internet access, freedom of the press, and civil liberties all have a significant effect on access to abortion. Therefore, as countries become more socially globalized, access to legal abortion will increase. Using cross-national time-series data for the period 1997-2011, I test the relationship between social globalization and access to legal abortion. I find support for the hypothesized relationship. In light of the state of abortion rights around …

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Thatcherism's Triumph: How Margaret Thatcher’S Neoliberal Policies Brought Prosperity To Britain, Carl J. Demarco Jr. Oct 2022

Thatcherism's Triumph: How Margaret Thatcher’S Neoliberal Policies Brought Prosperity To Britain, Carl J. Demarco Jr.

Student Publications

By 1979, the British economy was in complete and utter disarray. Inflation was at record highs along with unemployment. The post-world war consensus was built off the idea of embedded liberalism, which stressed that the government must play a large and active role in regulating the markets and that it was in the government's interest to keep unemployment at its natural low. Similar to the United States, since the Great Depression the welfare state in Great Britain had been expanding. The post-war consensus proclaimed and exhausted the economic theories of John Maynard Keynes who believed in embedded liberalism and the …

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State Capitalism’S Inability To Alter The Global Power Structure, Michael R. Woods Oct 2022

State Capitalism’S Inability To Alter The Global Power Structure, Michael R. Woods

Student Publications

In the modern day, many nations have instituted State Capitalist policies to grow their economies and increase their international influence. To evaluate the efficacy of this strategy, this paper analyzes the historical impacts of State Capitalism, as well as its effects upon economic concepts, including competition and innovation. This work also analyzes the ways in which State Capitalist policies have negatively impacted the international reputations of nations such as Russia and China and explores the specific national characteristics and circumstances that are required to truly alter the global power structure. Ultimately, the work concludes that state capitalism is unlikely to …

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Homer Rosenberger: Learning Beyond The Classroom, Theodore J. Szpakowski Oct 2022

Homer Rosenberger: Learning Beyond The Classroom, Theodore J. Szpakowski

Student Publications

Homer Rosenberger, a Pennsylvania historian, cared deeply about sharing information. He collected books and articles on the history of PA, as well as meeting minutes for the many societies he participated in. All of this material is now stored in boxes available at Musselman Library in Gettysburg, PA. This paper is a combination of research and reflection on the experience of working with the Rosenberger collection, specifically a box that deals primarily with correspondence learning and public history.

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The Relationship Between Women In Parliament And Globalization, Lilian A. Morrell Oct 2022

The Relationship Between Women In Parliament And Globalization, Lilian A. Morrell

Student Publications

I examine the relationship between women in national parliaments and globalization. Existing scholarship has thoroughly examined how globalization affects women’s representation but there is a distinct lack of research examining the obverse relationship. I seek to examine whether the saturation of women in the legislature has a significant impact on the level of globalization within a given nation and, more specifically, whether a curvilinear relationship exists between these two variables. I hypothesize that there exists a significant relationship of a concave nature, with parliaments that have no or a small percentage of women exhibiting low levels of globalization and globalization …

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The Effects Of Economic Globalization On Voter Turnout, Patrick L. Mahoney Oct 2022

The Effects Of Economic Globalization On Voter Turnout, Patrick L. Mahoney

Student Publications

Over the last 30 years, voter turnout, which is often considered to be an important sign of the vitality of a democracy, has been decreasing throughout the world. Traditional factors that drive voter turnout have not dramatically changed within the same period, suggesting that another factor is potentially at play. I contend that globalization, specifically economic globalization, has played a significant role in driving down voter turnout in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. First, economic globalization limits national autonomy in areas of economic policy by constraining national policymakers in their ability to implement substantive policy change. Second, as …

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Accessing History In Gettysburg: A Study Of Accessibility Of Public History Institutions, Theodore J. Szpakowski Jul 2022

Accessing History In Gettysburg: A Study Of Accessibility Of Public History Institutions, Theodore J. Szpakowski

Student Publications

Based on field observation and interviews with staff, this paper evaluates the state of accessibility in five Gettysburg public history institutions in the summer of 2022. Evaluation criteria for field observations were determined based on a critical disability studies approach, focusing on disabled people’s accounts of these and similar institutions. The research revealed areas of success and failure in current accessibility measures, as well as ongoing projects to increase accessibility in most institutions. The rubric developed here could be refined and used as a research tool or an institutional planning tool.

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